I recently had the
pleasure of interviewing former Real Housewives of DC star Mary Amons. So what
has Mary been up too since her time on RHODC? Well, Mary has been busy running
her charity “Labels for Love” which raises funds and awareness to women and children’s
causes which she launched since 2006, being a National spokesperson for
Tix4cause.com as well as being a full time mom of her 5 kids. Mary talks about
her time on RHODC, her divorce, and upcoming projects exclusively to
iRealHousewives.
iRH: How were you approached to join RHODC?
MA: The same day I first
sat in Jason Backe's (Ted Gibson's husband/business partner) chair getting my
hair colored at their not quite opened DC salon location, I received an email
from a friend in PR who asked if I would be open to taking a meeting with a
casting director of a reality show being pitched for DC. Jason and I were more
than giddy at this surprise invitation! I, of course was curious and took the
meeting, asked some very specific and investigative questions, got on my knees
and prayed whether it was the worth it to put myself and my family in the hands
of editors and public exposure....and...after much contemplating and prayer,
God spoke and I/we went for it! Our cast was not officially informed until the
first day of shooting and contracts were signed! BravoTV is so (not) sneaky!
iRH: Overall how would you describe your experience
on the show?
MA: Overall, I had a great
time! I loved sharing this experience with my dear and long time friend Lynda,
loved getting to know Cat and Stacie and was entertained by more of the unreal
and outlandish antics of "that couple. " The false accusations that
were directed towards Lolly were difficult to take for sure. Overall, RHODC was
a fun experience for our family, Lolly and I had a blast together on camera and
Kona for sure stole the show!
iRH: How long did you film the RHODC?
MA: 5 months, 5 days a
week for most of the day.
iRH: As you stated in the reunion, the Salahi’s
hijacked the season. Do you think if it wasn’t for them there would have been a
second season of RHODC?
MA: The jury is out about
why exactly Andy Cohen (@BravoAndy)
didn't bring us back. The White House incident seems to be the most obvious
reason, but we were never given a clear answer about why things didn't work out
for a second season. There has been much speculation about the fact that we
were not brought back and many unhappy fans that are still demanding more of
us! Our show just aired in the UKand Irelandwhich has brought a whole new set
of fans and now unhappy ones that they don't have more of us as RHODC. There
have been many people that have expressed a strong desire to have us back to
both Andy and the network. I believe that everything happens for a reason, and
frankly, I'm focused on many new exciting career opportunities ahead.
iRH: How did you react when you got notified that
Bravo wasn’t going to a second season of DC Housewives?
MA: When I made the
decision to sign on, I had a significant gut feeling that it would be a one
time amazing opportunity to expose my charity, Labels for Love on a national
level and spring board into the entertainment business. I have had a life long
dream to be an actress/tv host for as long as I can remember. I appreciate this
once in a lifetime opportunity but also didn't want to stay in the reality
genre for long. My grandfather, Arthur Godfrey was one of the pioneers of radio
and television and I have had aspirations of continuing his legacy since I was
a young girl. I'm excited to say that things are happening just as I suspected
and prayed for!
iRH: How’s life after “The Real Housewives of DC”?
MA: Life is and always has
been very busy for me. As a mother of 5 children, it is seriously non-stop! Now
that I am a single mother, with new career pursuits, life is seriously,
seriously busy and some days seem crazy! I do go to bed and wake up every day
feeling extreme gratitude for my amazing family, incredible opportunities and
special friends that I have in my life. I couldn't function without any one of
them. I am constantly amazed by the people I encounter out and about as a
person in the public eye. I would say this aspect is the biggest blessing in all
of this, to be able to meet and hear the stories of the most amazing people in
this world. I don't place a high value on fame at all, I value people for the
true authenticity and honesty in who they are and what they give to the world.
I am genuinely interested and fascinated by people.
iRH: Do you still keep in touch with any of the DC
wives?
MA: I do keep in close
touch with Lynda. We have been close friends for years and our experience
together on RHODC only enhanced our friendship to which I am grateful. She's an
amazing friend and mentor. Cat and I do keep in touch occasionally. She lives
in Spain
iRH: What’s your opinion of Michaele leaving Tareq?
Would you ever consider talking to her now that she’s no longer married to
Tareq?
MA: I have always wished
Michaele the best. The girls were always concerned about her well being and
stress she must have suffered in keeping up with the life that she and Tareq
posed. I truly hope that this new relationship and move in her life will bring
her much happiness and peace. Even after all of the nonsense and harm she and
Tareq caused my family, I wish them both the best that life has to offer.
iRH: I know you and Rich are now divorced which
makes me sad. However you two still support and respect each other and
co-parent your kids. What advice would you give to couples who struggle
co-parenting due to divorce?
MA: I to am sad that we
have to go through divorce. If you would have told me that this would be apart
of my story, I would have called you crazy. The divorce process is a grueling
one for several reasons, especially those couples going through it with
children. Rich and I are very much committed to making sure our kids understand
that this decision was not at all their fault and is a positive and necessary
move in an effort for to be a happy and peaceful family. We are committed
parents and will always be a family with many happy years and memories
together. I'm truly grateful for my beautiful family. A word of advice is to
make sure to guard your attitude and tongue when speaking about your ex. It's
almost super human but if kids have an understanding that there is a cohesive
attitude in settling things and not undermining the other parent, everyone will
feel a much better sense of security. No matter how old the kids, divorce for a
family is enormously painful and causes upheaval regardless of the
circumstances. Change is hard, but sometimes in order for things to stay moving
forward, change is necessary. I also recommend family counseling to keep the
communication flowing and emotions expressed!
iRH: What is your favorite and least favorite
moment of the show and why?
MA: I have many favorite
moments of RHODC, mostly ones that didn't landed on the cutting room floor! I
experienced such fun with my kids, one in particular was in a batting cage with
my youngest son, Matt. He didn't realize that I was such a great hitter and
pitcher! Fortunately, our producers did edit and give me a copy of that fun day
with Matt. Many fun and funny memories when the cameras were following us!
My least favorite moment
was of course the dinner after the "grape stomp" when the Salahis
accused Lolly of theft. All complete and proven nonsense. I said it well in a
pick up interview and stand by my comment of feeling "sucker punched"
after a hilarious day of stomping table grapes and witnessing the
ridiculousness of that day. I laughed and appreciated the entertainment of the
entire day until that moment. Our crew was even crying after that all went
down. Horrific moment.
iRH: I know you are the founder of “Labels for
Love”. Can you explain to my readers what your charity about?
MA: In 2006, I founded
Labels for Love, a 501 C 3 organization to raise funds and awareness for
women's and children's causes. I decided that it was time for DC to experience
some interesting fashion and art inspired events to celebrate and support
worthy causes. I grew up in a family that is very service oriented. My father,
Robert Schmidt started a foundation in 1970 in honor of Coach Vince Lombardi
that raised funds for the Lombardi
CancerResearch Centerat
Georgetown University
iRH: If you had to chance to do it all over again,
would you do it?
MA: I have no regrets
about taking the leap to expose myself and my family on reality tv. As I said,
I don't believe in accidents and I truly knew in my heart that it was a once in
a lifetime opportunity that I had to take to open up Labels for Love to a mass
audience and create a much larger exposure to raise more funds and awareness to
the organizations I am passionate to support. I also had a gut feeling that
RHODC would be only one season. I knew why they were interested in me and for
me it was for positive reasons from what I could gather. My real worry if it
were to go forward was that the unfortunate reality that the general public
loves to see good people fail and fall. I believe in being authentic and real,
but there is much risk at the hands of editors and producers to spin things. I
value my family to much to expose them to this risk going forward. I am excited
about all that is ahead and am so grateful for the opportunity to have such a
unique experience. I learned a tremendous amount about myself and what is
really important in this process.
iRH: If you could change anything during your time
on RHODC, what would it be?
MA: Obviously, the false
accusations by the Salahis towards my daughter Lolly is something that if I
could change I definitely would. It was just criminal on their part to bring
such egregious lies and accusations of theft, threats of jail and the FBI
investigations, etc. directed towards an innocent child on national and
international television. I am very proud of how Lolly handled herself, but not
surprised being the gracious lovely young woman that she is.
I do feel like my anger
and bitterness in having to listen to and be subject to the crazy couple got the
best of me at the Reunion show, needless to
say. That was shot in one long 18 hour day, and by the time they brought the
men out to the set, I had hit my patience limit. Not my best moment.
iRH: If Bravo brought back RHODC for a revamped
season and approached you to join, would you accept the proposal?
MA: I have some specific
goals for my career and I'm not sure continuing with the Real Housewives
franchise would help me achieve those goals. Also, as I said, exposing my
family to the hands of editors and producers is extremely risky to go forward.
I am grateful for all of the good things that have come from the experience.
I'll keep moving forward to create more fun and success ahead!
iRH: What’s in store for Mary? Any future projects
in the works that you tell us?
MA: I have a lifestyle
book with a unique spin in development as well as a film project based on the
career and life of my grandfather, legendary radio and television pioneer,
Arthur Godfrey. Also, I just launched my voice over career! I have three reels
produced for commercial, narration and promo work. http://voice123.com/maryamons. I am
working on securing my own radio show soon as well as pursuing opportunities
with hosting, acting and producing films. Also, I will continue to work hard in
my philanthropic efforts, promoting the Labels for Love Cross exclusively by
Christofle as well as producing some fabulous fashion events in the coming
year.
iRH: Anything you would like to say to your fans?
MA: It's a humbling and
surreal statement to say that I have fans! I don't take for granted the
appreciation they all show on a daily basis! I can count on one hand the number
of times something negative has been directed at me, thankfully. I do my best to
use this exposure to spread goodness. I love to encourage others to appreciate
the good and the bad times, stay positive, hug your kids everyday, pursue your
passions, love yourself, give without expecting anything in return, forgive and
truly live in the moment and most importantly...LOVE. All things I wake up
every morning reminding myself. Life is short and we all need to embrace the
moment and be our best!
Stay Connected With Mary:
Twitter: @MaryAmonsLike Her Facebook Page: Click Here
Stay Connected with Labels
for Love:
Website: http://www.labelsforlove.org/
Twitter: @Labels_For_Love
Facebook: Click
Here
Stay Connected with
Tix4Cause:
Website: http://www.tix4cause.com/
Twitter: @Tix4Cause
Facebook: Click Here
Photo Credit: Mary Amons
Copyright: Partial reposting is permitted with a link back to the original article.
Copyright: Partial reposting is permitted with a link back to the original article.
![RHONJ Season 9 Premiere Recap: Wives And Dismeanors [Episode 1]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuryYm2OGpHl0P8gYhEIK2gXgipI0kBY1ubYwWZqbTzF22CZIXMfw0nwxB_lOBLW0ry_9wqEw7UyJDinR0pQS_B7M_Bnwt_3I6LuH9RAjcWPytv6ToIghyphenhyphenf6w9q18q4BtA_YOdBgYeKng/w680/181022_3816506_The_RHONJ_Season_9_Taglines_Are_Here_.jpg)
